The Fourth Hole

When I slide into Ryan's truck, my adrenaline has me buzzing. I quickly lean over to kiss him and my off expression has him puzzled. He looks to me and asks, "Everything alright?" I nod to him and decide to swallow down what I want to tell him. He glances to me again before pulling out of the driveway.

As I was gliding out of the Samuel's house, I realized my agreement might totally freak Ryan out. Our relationship is still very much blooming and I would hate to scare him off by saying Hollis has given him their blessing to marry me. How do I explain all this and have it make sense? I shouldn't have agreed to her on the spot. I should have thought it over, but the plan is already in motion. I have officially created bad blood between me and Poppy.

I decide to keep quiet for now as I figure out how to explain the complexities of my momma's social circles and as we drive down the one-lane road, I look to Ryan and ask, "How was your day?" He glances back to me and asks, "You sure you're alright? You look jittery and you didn't immediately go off about how boring that landscaping meeting was. What's up with you?" I try and think of something quickly and go with a half-lie.

"Poppy decided to show everyone that stupid picture of me. It's just getting old. I'm tired of defending myself." He reaches over and gently pats my knee, "I think you're an easy target. Everyone knows you and your family so it's easy to talk about." I nod to him and realize I want to steer off this conversation before I accidentally spill the beans and have him sprinting back to South Carolina.

"I know, it's just frustrating. Anyway, do you have to be home so soon? Maybe before we go pick up my mom's car, we can get some ice cream or something?"

He nods, "Of course. Looks like you had a rough day. Let's get you some ice cream." I give him directions to the best ice cream parlor close to us and as we pull into the parking lot, I am glad to see hardly anyone here. Ryan holds the door open for me and the door chime causes the one employee to snap his head towards us. I run my eyes over the ice cream choices and choose cookie dough ice cream in a waffle cup. Ryan picks a scoop of pistachio and I stick my tongue out at his choice.

After enjoying our treats, we make our way to the country club and as soon as we pull up, I see Jackson talking to Garrett Anders by the valet. I have no idea if Poppy informed him of our confrontation and I don't want him saying anything to me in front of Ryan. I quickly panic and dart my gaze over to my innocent boyfriend.

"I am so dumb, I forgot to get the car keys from Mama to get the car. You know what? Why don't you just drop me off at home and I'll get the car tomorrow. I'll have Gus take me here in the morning." Ryan eyes me but is unaware that my momma said she left the keys in the glove box. He rolls his eyes and I'm sure he's annoyed to be driving me all over Hollis after a long day of work. I rest my hand on his forearm and give him my best puppy dog eyes.

"I am sorry you have a terrible girlfriend that treats you like her personal taxi." He glances at me before letting out a light laugh. He grabs onto my hand as he says, "It's not the end of the world." I smile to him as he adds, "Oh I forgot to tell you, I have tomorrow off. Maybe we can go on our second date?"

"You know, we got ice cream tonight so technically, our third date could be tomorrow and you know what that means." I bounce my eyebrows up and down and he shakes his head while laughing, "You make it hard to honor my word in taking things slow."

"Ryan, I promise to never say our relationship is purely sexual ever again. I've learned my lesson. It's been almost a month since our last...roll in the hay." He laughs again and I give him my best pleading look. He winks to me and coyly replies, "We'll see."

When we arrive back at my house, I pull on his hand that was resting on the steering wheel and say, "Momma is conked out from her migraine and the night is still young. You don't have to get up early tomorrow, so maybe you could come inside and hang out for a bit?" I dramatically flutter my long eyelashes and give him my best pout. He rolls his eyes in response and I clap my hands with giddiness when he cuts the ignition.

I quietly lead him up to my room and my house has an eeriness about it with all the lights off. Silence surrounds us so I assume Austin is out with Margot. Celia is probably already home since my mother usually needs dead silence and pitch black when she has a migraine.

I sneak Ryan into my room and after pressing the door shut, he points his finger and says, "No hanky-panky missy. I'm solely here to spend quality time with my beautiful girlfriend." I nod to him in agreement and he drops down onto the corner of my bed. I eye him and then bite my lip. I slowly spin around as I taunt him, "I'm just going to change into my pajamas." He shakes his head no but I continue to walk into my closet. I strip everything off except for my pink lacy undergarments and then pluck one of the shirts I've stolen from him out of a stack of clean clothes. I walk back into my room and he looks up as I slowly pull his shirt on. I release a pin from the loose chignon I had and shake my wild hair so it falls past my shoulders. Ryan stifles a laugh at my attempt at seduction and I trot over to the bed. I lay back onto the pillows and his shirt sits right at my hipline. He looks to me with a gleam in his eye but shakes his head at my obvious attempt. He laughs again and says, "It's been getting colder out at night. You probably need some pants." I shake my head but he grabs a quilted blanket from my chaise and drapes it over my exposed legs. I frown dramatically as he says, "I told you. No dirty business." Defeated for the moment I sit up and rest my back against the wall my bed sits against. Ryan pulls himself next to me and I rest my head on his shoulder. He presses his lips against my forehead before grabbing onto my hand. I look up to him and ask, "Would you be mad if I pulled out some wine?"

"Go for it. Except I know you're not very good at sneaking around quietly." I pull myself from the bed and open the small door on my nightstand. I pull a bottle of Chardonnay from the small space and pluck the wine opener from the top drawer. I look back to an amused Ryan and say, "I know I'm not, that's why I always keep one tucked away." He grabs the bottle, still only slightly surprised at my stash and pulls the cork out with ease. He looks to me as he hands me my prize," I know what I am getting you for Christmas. An electric wine opener." I take a swig from the bottle and once I remove it from my lips I reply, "I would love that. And I also love that you are confident that we will be together at Christmas." He takes the bottle from my hands and before taking a swig, he says, "Well I am hoping you're mine for the long haul, so of course I imagine Christmas with you." He takes a drink and I realize we have both fallen hard and quickly for each other. My heart literally broke in half when I ended our relationship a few weeks ago and I can't imagine going through that pain again.

We continue to pass the bottle back and forth as we talk about all sorts of things. I eventually curl up next to him and cover us with the quilt. We drink while we giggle and swap stories from our past and discuss our future together. He confesses that he sees him happy in Hollis and that he's adjusting to our small town. I decide that I'm glad we didn't sleep together because I know we would have just enjoyed each other with our clothes off and passed out afterward. There is something to this whole chaste thing.

Once the wine is gone, I look to the clock and see it's past four in the morning. We literally stayed up and talked all night long. I look to Ryan, who is still as wired as I am, and say, "I have an idea I haven't done since college." His eyes narrow, suspicious of my idea but I continue, "It will require some walking. But it will be worth it." He shrugs and I pull myself off the bed. I tug on some sweatpants and throw a hoodie over my baggy shirt. I come out of my closet and Ryan is standing by the bed. I look at him and ask, "Do you have a jacket?"

"In my truck I do."

"Go grab it and meet me out by the back patio." He nods, up for whatever adventure I am taking him on and we both quietly sneak downstairs. He goes out the front door as I grab the spare key to momma's car from the entryway table. I tiptoe to the back patio and Ryan comes around the back tugging his Tennessee Vols sweatshirt on. The bright orange glows in the darkness and I welcome his vibrance in the quiet night. I grab his hand while leading him down to the shed by the stables and he asks, "Am I startin' up your dad's truck again?" I shake my head no as I slide heavy the door open and then pat around on the shelves for the flashlight.

When my fingers hit the familiar cylinder, I spin the head and the small light illuminates the shed. I point to our golf cart that's parked near the door and look back to Ryan, "You're going to be starting that." He eyes me again and I lead him over to the cart. I tuck the keys into his hand and he quickly finds the ignition. The golf cart makes a loud piercing sound as he tries to quickly back out of the shed and we frantically try and move the cart so the sound doesn't spook the horses. I'd probably hear the squeal from my room but I am hoping since momma's room sits at the front of the house, she can't hear anything. We quickly get the golf cart onto the dirt path and Ryan looks over to me, "Where we joyriding this thing to?"

"The country club. Remember the path we took with the horses?" He looks to me reluctantly and says, "I don't have my badge on me so I can't get us out of trespassing tickets." I wave off his worries with my hand and say, "Don't worry, we won't be there long enough to get caught." He puts his foot on the gas and it's surprisingly cold for this time of year. I cover the lower half of my face with my sweatshirt and lean into Ryan for warmth. Our quiet whizzing is the only noise in the meadow and it's a titillating feeling being the only ones out here in the dead of night.

When we reach the tree line that curves along the seventh hole, I show Ryan where to park the cart and we quickly hop out. I immediately reach for his hand and my heart swells as I realize Ryan is trusting me enough to willingly trespass onto a golf course for no other reason than my word. I wrap my hand around the top of his arm and pull myself into his side as we walk in step toward the green. Our breathing is heavy as we make it up the steep slope and when we reach the top, he realizes why I brought him here.

The seventh hole sits on top of a hill that sits above the far-away eastern tree line. I stop walking as we approach the hole in the center of the green and I sit crossed-legged next to it. Pink light is already peeking above the fluffy trees so I know the sun should be rising any time now. The grounds crew doesn't start work on the fairways until after dawn so I know we won't get caught being here.

Ryan settles in next to me and we both look toward the rising sun. I rest my head on his shoulder and quietly say, "I love you, Ryan." He kisses me on the forehead and says, "I love you too, Sawyer. I don't think I've watched the sunrise since I was in training. And it will be much more enjoyable watching it with you than watching it while running."

"Gus used to work here during the summers in high school so we learned when the grounds crew comes to work. Whitney and I would sneak down here and watch the sunrise and wave to Gus as he clocked in. He always threatened to tell his boss about the trespassers."

Ryan laughs, "I don't see Gus wanting to get you in trouble."

"Nah, he was always all talk." Ryan kisses my forehead again and we watch as the pink horizon rises into the sky and the colorful oranges and yellows come up with the sun. We are quiet as we watch the magic, just enjoying being next to each other.

After the sun is above the tree line I look to Ryan, "Alright, now we have to make a dash for it. I have to get to my momma's car before we are caught by the employees. She'll lose her mind if she finds out I didn't go get it last night."

"What about the golf cart?" Ryan asks and I shrug, "I'll take Maybelle out to get it later." He nods and pulls himself from the grass before pulling me up by my hands. We glance around us to make sure no one is around yet and then I look to him, "Ready to run? I don't know when the sprinklers start." He nods and we both take off sprinting down the hill and across the wide golf course. The ground keepers will be here any time now so we continue running closer to the parking lot. We are more than halfway there when I see something laying in the distance by the fourth hole. I slow my speed and Ryan sees it too. Out of breath, I pant, "Do you think that's a deer?" We continue walking to the dark mound that's on the green and when we are steps away from it, Ryan yanks me backward.

It's too late.

I saw the face.

I saw the lifeless blue eyes and the alabaster skin.

He holds me against him as I let out a horrified scream. He pulls me away from the body and tries to hold me as I collapse into his arms.

We just found a dead Poppy Penderghast lying next to the fourth hole.